Through these shared adventures the people involved are given the opportunity to network, make connections on a personal level and improve existing relationships.
On March 22, celebrating a new school year, the Department of Public Administration held a party for sophomores. In Korea, university students often throw parties at the beginning of the semester. Many students make friends and begin the process of creating wonderful memories there.
Traditio nally, these parties were always popular. However at this year`s event there were only 13 students. These days this long tradition is being broken. Ko Chung-Ki, the president of the department, said, "It is a miserable party.
Many students aren`t concerned with public events anymore and they only spend their time pursuing their private affairs." With MT it is no different. Heo Hong-Suk, head sophomore student in the Dept. of Public Admin istration, pointed out their difficulty.
He was accepting applications to join the latest MT group, but there were far fewer students than he expected. He said, "Because people are no longer concerned with community, it is difficult to get people interested in joining our team." Kwon Young-Joo, a professor of Public Administration, said, "In the past when a new professor was employed, he or she was introduced to each of the other faculty members by a senior professor.
But this custom has now vanished and professors often don`t know anything about each other." Among the student body the problem is even more serious. It sometimes seems that only superficial relationships exist on campus. "There are so many people who I don`t know in our department." Kim Je-Sang, a freshman of the Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, said.
Although knowing everybody is probably an impossibility, it seems that these days nobody tries to get to know anybody. Therefore member participation is decreasing steadily. To understand this phenomenon, NEWS@UOS asked freshmen, "Shou ld we have to go to MT?" The result is very meaningful.
If the subjects were juniors and seniors, it may be understandable, as these people have to spend their time seeking employment and considering their future path in life. But the subjects in this case were freshmen. Whatever anyone says, freshmen ought to enjoy their youth. But they don`t. Why? A freshman who wishes to remain anonymous said, "I know the joy of MT, but it feels a little annoying when I am busy preparing for something else."
This is similar to other answers given: ‘MT is good, but a department shouldn`t be able to make me go` and even `I can use my time better when I don`t go to MT than when I do.` Maybe this is becoming a common trend in universities today.
These days, individual activities are more popular than those involving community. This trend is bringing about the advent of what we call the `New Outsiders`. In the past, outsiders meant people who were not concerned with the affairs of others and didn`t care to be in the company of others. Most of them were considered odd. Despite there having been many success stories among them, many people don`t think it is desirable. However, `New Outsiders` make themselves outsiders. They make a point of self-development and study hard to have a competitive edge. Moreover, many students are involved in this tendency. Statistics show this.
Professor Kwon Young-Joo said that students who graduated in the 1970s and 1980s have tended to maintain a group, but most alumni from the 1990s usually don`t keep in touch with each other. "In the past, there was always a vehicle that caused people to gather such as the students` movement. However, the more computers are supplied, the more students play alone."
He predicted that the increase of the New Outsiders will become more and more the overall trend. It is true that campus culture must change with time. So the advent of the New Outsiders could be a natural progression. Lee Yun-Suk, Professor of the Dept. of Urban Science, explains that it is because the trend is not simply their own choice but a choice influenced by other things (for example ,serious unemployment among young people, a social atmosphere urging limitless competition, nervousness at the future and so on) that causes this trend to be somewhat alarming.
"I want to take a break and buy lunch for freshmen. But I have to study, I must do my work." said Shin Hye-In, Dept. of Public Administration `04. The problem at present is the vicious circle of non-interaction. Seniors are not concerned with interactions within their department. So this year`s freshmen won`t get a chance to have exchanges with older students, next year`s freshmen will lose out too, and so on. So what is the best solution?
Perhaps seniors should approach juniors first. Kim Je-Hyun, a freshman of the Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering , said, "It is difficult to speak to a senior first. There is a heavy atmosphere which is not easy to get around, this is worsened by the fact that many students socialize only in their own little groups of five or six people".
Professor Lee Yun-Suk offers us a solution. He said that people don`t follow the commands of others anymore; therefore, an association like the students` union must throw out the big event-centered, old fashioned schedule. Instead, they ought to find new interesting events and be concerned with the everyday affairs of students.
According to the professor, students should also do not what others do, but what others don`t, if they want to be real New Outsiders. Working hard to improve one`s capacity and prepare for the future is so important in the global era. But working on one side and ignoring another is undesirable.
It is good to balance both. Professor Kwon Young-Joo said, "I don`t want to say that the life of the New Outsider is wrong." He just advised that students should nurture relationships between class members, the same department and within the same university. Although society may treat us harshly, we should never neglect community.
Because all we do is contiguous with other people. Keep in mind that concentrating on one thing too much always creates a problem. Human relations and self-development, the world wishes to attain both.
Jeong Dae-gyo reporter
jdgpower@uos.ac.kr